At an age when most people might be looking back on a great career, Susan Paletz is looking in only one direction.

Forward.

Paletz, in her adult life a teacher and (mostly) an attorney, is taking herself out of the courtroom and focusing solely on mediating, establishing Mediator to Go, a sort of mediation-by-house-call service in which she helps settle disputes.

"I don't want to phase out of law, I want to phase out of representing one side or the other," said Paletz, a Farmington Hills resident who's been practicing family law some 36 years. "I'd rather help people resolve their pressing issues rather than represent one side who has an agenda."

The idea, according to Paletz, is to take her show on the road, providing mediation services at locations convenient to attorneys and clients.

"Attorneys seem to like it," she said. "The (lawyer) who's hosting (the mediation) doesn't have to leave his office. They think it's a cool idea."

Though she said she "always wanted to be a lawyer," it wasn't where she was initially headed. She was teaching seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders in Berkley and, when the district was laying off teachers, decided it was a good time to raise her family.

After giving birth to Libby and Matthew, she contemplated going back to school. With husband Robert — "He was the original Mr. Mom," Paletz said with a laugh — taking care of the kids, Paletz went to night school at Wayne State University in downtown Detroit.

"There weren't a lot of women in law at the time," Paletz said, adding with a laugh, "Looking back on it, I don't recommend it."

Robert can laugh now about the Mr. Mom thing — "I didn't quite know what I was doing, but the children didn't starve, so I guess I did OK," he said with a smile — but there was never any doubt he would support her efforts.

He remembers Susan's mom fearing she wouldn't finish school, but Robert had no doubt.

"I'm a very strong advocate of people reaching their goals and growing in any direction they like," Robert said.

So Paletz went into law. But after practicing for decades, she decided the courtroom wasn't the place she wanted to be. She sold her practice to her son Matthew and is rebranding herself with Mediator to Go.

In addition to mediating more traditional cases where clients appear with attorneys, Paletz also mediates for parties who do not want to include counsel.

She called mediation a "wonderful alternative" for couples where there is no issue of domestic abuse, who are fairly equal in their skills, who have knowledge of the marital estate and who have limited funds.

"(Mediation) is a very emotional time. You have to learn how to take (clients') temperature, so to speak," Paletz said. "Sometimes, they just need someone to get them focused. I spend a lot of the beginning of the mediation just listening, letting them talk about their side."

While it's definitely a kind of course correction, it's not a slowdown. Robert said his wife doesn't really have that gear. He was impressed, however, that she could see this coming.

"One of the cool things about her is she has the vision," he said. "A number of years ago, she said this mediation thing was going to be very big and she started taking the training for it back then. I got a lot of psychic income from seeing how much she enjoyed being a mediator."

The rebranding is in full swing. Paletz is already doing the work and daughter Libby is busy designing the website (www.mediatortogo.com), which is still a work in progress. Paletz will hold a coming-out party with a reception 5-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, at Andiamo restaurant in Bloomfield Hills (RSVP to susan@mediatortogo.com).

Paletz says she sometimes misses the courtroom and certainly she misses the camaraderie. What she doesn't miss is the "nastiness you sometimes get," she said. Now she can just focus on helping people work through their problems and find a satisfactory resolution.

So, even at age 73, Paletz has no intention of hanging it up.

"As an attorney, it's nice when people reach a resolution. I just feel good," Paletz said. "A lot of times, they'll give me a hug. Those hugs are nice. As long as I can do it, as long as my mind's still good, why would I stop?"

Contact Brad Kadrich at bkadrich@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bkadrich.